Get the latest LGBT headlines in your inbox with our free daily newsletter!

A new US study has shown that gay teachers are less likely to challenge homophobia in schools for fear of drawing attention to their sexuality and putting their careers at risk.

The study reveals that gay and lesbian teachers are less likely to intervene when they witness homophobic language in classrooms than their heterosexual peers, including when children use the word “gay” as an offensive slur.

Tiffany Wright, who carried out in-depth interviews with more than 350 teachers and principals, said: “Often, LGBT educators are less likely to say something in response to homophobia, because then they might be perceived as gay.”

She added: “They’re fearful for their job, or fearful of the repercussions of being seen as gay.”

Many of the teachers Dr Wright interviewed admitted that they did not feel safe coming out as gay at school.

Two-thirds said that they rarely or never see other teachers intervene when homophobic remarks are made in the staff room.

59 per cent said that they had heard homophobic comments made by other teachers.

Around half of gay teachers said that they did not always challenge homophobic language used by students.

Sue Sanders, co-chair of the UK-based teachers’ association Schools Out, said there is a widespread assumption that if teachers challenge homophobia, they are “outing” themselves.

“When a straight person tackles homophobia, the assumption is that they’re gay,” she said.

“But when you’re a member of a minority group, you’re aware that you’re seeing stuff that people who aren’t members of that minority group might not see.

“You see it around women challenging sexism or black people challenging racism. There’s a fear that people will say that, just because you’re lesbian or gay, you think everyone’s against you.”

Dr Wright’s research paper cites an example from her own time spent as a teacher, where she recounts how a fellow teacher used the phrase “this is so gay” to mean “this is so stupid” in front of a classroom full of students.

“We grew up in an era when gay equalled bad,” Dr Wright said. “That’s so ingrained in so many people. We’ve made a lot of progress since then, but the language has just been pervasive.”

Wes Streeting, Stonewall’s Head of Education, said: “Homophobic bullying is much more prevalent in schools where teachers don’t challenge homophobic language. If the teachers themselves are using such language, goodness knows what the effect would be on gay pupils.”

Professor Ian Rivers, who researches homophobic bullying for Brunel University in London, said that school leaders often expect openly gay teachers to lead classroom discussions about LGBT issues.

“This is actually where headteachers are missing a trick,” he said. “They need stereotypically heterosexual teachers to engage with these issues – show that it’s unacceptable for anyone to display any kind of homophobia.”

“Any kid can get called gay,” Professor Rivers added. “If they’re good at something, if they’re bad at something. If they’re a bit different. It doesn’t matter.

“It’s the one abusive term where it’s very difficult to demonstrate that you’re not. How do you demonstrate that you’re not gay?”

PinkNews covers religion, politics, entertainment, finance, and community news for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in the UK and worldwide. Founded to produce broadsheet quality journalism for the LGBT community, we cover politics to theology in an intelligent manner.